Good Luck to Us All
A Graphic Memoir of Sorts
Karen Vermeulen’s graphic memoir Good Luck to Us All is a funny, honest account of an “imperfect” life marked by foibles and follies.
An unwanted pregnancy, a bad relationship, an unruly cat, and aging are among the problems addressed in Vermeulen’s personality-laden book. It is often laugh-out-loud funny in tracing her life as a single woman in Cape Town, South Africa. Vermeulen’s cat, Sir Henry Baba Ganoush the Bohemian, is a charming sidekick in the conversational, unpredictable narrative.
The witty, unframed illustrations pair with varying font sizes to complement the book’s punch lines. The characters’ faces are expressive and exaggerated, helping to distill situations in a few glimpses. There’s an insightful examination of the word “brave,” which has backhanded meanings in the context of complimenting women. And on the advantages of having Sir Henry versus children, the book notes, “He’s not going to … get mixed up with the wrong crowd or get into drugs” alongside a hilarious drawing of a miscreant cat on two legs, arms folded, with “awful tattoos.”
Good Luck to Us All is an amusing graphic memoir about being single in the modern world.
Reviewed by
Peter Dabbene
Disclosure: This article is not an endorsement, but a review. The publisher of this book provided free copies of the book to have their book reviewed by a professional reviewer. No fee was paid by the publisher for this review. Foreword Reviews only recommends books that we love. Foreword Magazine, Inc. is disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255.
